He wanted to diversify his family’s wealth and protect his wife and children, he said in a recent interview about why he sold to GPB. Rosenberg eventually agreed in September 2017 to a $235 million deal with GPB where he would retain a 23.75% ownership interest. In early 2017, GPB approached Rosenberg about selling a controlling interest in Prime Motor Group. The two Rosenbergs had long, successful careers in the auto industry and established strong track records with a variety of manufacturers. The pair grew the company to 20 car dealerships in the New England area before selling to GPB. He sold the company and a short time later started Prime with David. He founded and grew Ira Motor Group over two decades, purchasing his first dealership in the Boston area in 1975. Prime Motor Group was Ira Rosenberg's second auto dealership company. Rosenberg had a long history in the automobile industry If the billion-dollar Ponzi scheme accusation is true, it would rank be among the top ten in the county in U.S. That promised stream of money enticed about 17,000 investors, including 4,000 seniors, from 11 states to sink their savings into GPB funds.

In those materials, brokers from Ascendent and other firms touted an “8% target annual distribution, paid monthly, which has been fully covered with funds from operations since inception,” according to the lawsuit filed by the New York District Attorney's office. Gentile of Long Island, New York, Lash of Naples, Florida, and Schneider of Austin, Texas, pleaded not guilty to the charges.Īuto dealerships in GPB’s Automotive Holdings LLC appeared to be profitable according to marketing materials used to persuade investors. The new owners: Todd Copeland and Bryan Scarpellinni are partners in two dealerships that until recently were Prime Chevrolet and Prime Subaru in Hyannis. Investors were guaranteed 8% annual returns and were assured the money would come from the dealerships' profits. But according to prosecutors GPB used money from late investors to pay earlier investors - and to pocket some of the money themselves.ĭavid Gentile, GPB founder, owner and CEO, Jeffrey Lash, a managing partner of GPB from 2013 through early 2018, and Jeffrey Schneider, owner and CEO of Ascendant were indicted earlier this year on federal wire fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy charges. They’ve been accused of running a Ponzi scheme that’s estimated to involve up to $1.8 billion. In February 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed an enforcement action against two GPB executives and the CEO of Ascendant, an investment firm that worked in conjunction with and for GPB to recruit small investors, according to court documents. David joined GPB and Ira, then 80, retired.ĭavid's discovery of irregularities in the financials - and his attempts to report them to GPB top executives - led to his firing. Federal prosecutors say the information he reported uncovered an alleged Ponzi scheme that bilked investors of almost $2 billion, according to court documents. In 2017, Rosenberg and his father, Ira Rosenberg, sold GPB a majority interest in Prime Motor Group, an automotive empire the pair had built that included 20 car dealerships around New England. David Rosenberg was looking at financials for GPB's Automotive Holdings when he spotted something fishy in the numbers. At the time he was CEO of the automotive division at GPB Capital Holdings, a New York alternative investment firm.

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